The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Poinsettia plant, botanically known as Euphorbia pulcherrima Willd., and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Eckahabxe2x80x99.
The new Poinsettia a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Encinitas, Calif. The obfective of the breeding program is to create new Poinsettia cultivars having flower bracts with desirable colors, uniform plant habit and excellent post-production longevity.
The new Poinsettia is an induced mutation of the Poinsettia cultivar 490, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 7,825. Plants of the new Poinsettia originated by exposing unrooted cuttings of the Poinsettia cultivar 490 to X-ray radiation. The new Poinsettia was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within a population of irradiated plants in a controlled environent in Encinitas, Calif., in December, 1998. The selection of this plant was based on its attractive flower bract colors and good plant form and substance.
Asexual reproduction of the new Poinsettia by terminal cuttings taken at Encinitas, Calif., since 1998, has shown that the unique features of this new Poinsettia are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Eckahabxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Eckahabxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Inflorescences with soft red-colored flower bracts.
2. Dark green-colored leaves with burgundy-colored petioles.
3. Compact, uniform, upright and outwardly spreading plant habit.
4. Very freely branching habit.
5. Early flowering, natural season flower maturity date is November 16 for plants grown in Encinitas, Calif.; response time, about 7 weeks.
6. Excellent post-production longevity.
Plants of the new Poinsettia can be compared to plants of the mutation parent, the cultivar 490. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Encinitas, Calif., plants of the new Poinsettia differed from plants of the cultivar 490 in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Poinsettia have smaller leaves than plants of the cultivar 490.
2. Plants of the new Poinsettia have smaller bracts and smaller inflorescences than plants of the cultivar 490.
3. Flower bracts of plants of the new Poinsettia are soft red in color whereas flower bracts of plants of the cultivar 490 are dark red in color.